Dehradun, Nov. 21 -- Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress committee president Ganesh Godiyal on Thursday sharply criticised the state government for invoking the Uttarakhand Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) and enforcing a "no work, no pay" rule on employees engaged through the Uttarakhand Purva Sainik Kalyan Nigam Ltd (UPNL). He said the move amounted to "repression" and exposed the government's failure in policy and human resource management. "These are the same employees who have been running the state's health, security, administrative and technical systems for years, without regularisation, without security and without fair wages," Godiyal said. "Instead of acknowledging their legitimate demands related to service conditions and policy reforms, the government has chosen to suppress them. This clearly shows the Dhami government's incompetence and insensitivity towards employees," he said More than 22,000 workers of UPNL went on an indefinite strike on November 10, demanding regularisation of their jobs and implementation of equal pay for equal work, affecting work in government offices and hospitals across the state. Accusing the government of treating workers like offenders, he said imposing ESMA was an attempt to criminalise employees rather than address long-pending grievances. "Our clear allegation is that the government wants to avoid dialogue and accountability. It is refusing to answer questions about irregularities, commissions, and the contract-driven structure embedded in the UPNL system," he said. Godiyal questioned whether UPNL workers were being treated like "machines" for demanding their rights. "Shouldn't dialogue and resolution be the government's priority? Is ESMA being used as a shield to hide the failures of the UPNL system?" he asked. Demanding immediate withdrawal of ESMA, Godiyal said the government should initiate talks with employee representatives and conduct a comprehensive review of the UPNL framework to ensure transparency, stability and dignity in employment. "Uttarakhand Congress stands firmly with these employees in their just struggle and strongly opposes this undemocratic move," he said. Harish Rawat, senior Congress leader, in his social media post on Thursday, said, "UPNL workers are falling victim to injustice. If they are screaming, crying out, pleading, demanding a certain future and fair wages for the work they do, then it's such a grave insult to them that the government has imposed a 'no work, no pay' policy on them. If the workers are restless, if they feel the government has been keeping them waiting for too long, and hasn't addressed their problems, shouldn't they take to the streets? Should they not wear black ribbons and protest? Should they not hold gate meetings and express their grievances? These are all democratic methods, and the workers have this right....